Tensions have escalated sharply in Odisha’s educational landscape as the farmers’ rights outfit, Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS), formally announced a state-wide Odisha Bandh on September 30.
The organisation is calling for strict accountability and demanding the immediate resignation of Odisha School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond following widespread blunders detected in government-issued textbooks.
The call for the strike was made public by NNKS National Coordinator Akshay Kumar. Kumar declared that the state government’s negligence regarding basic primary education has crossed acceptable limits, urging citizens, business owners, and transport unions across Odisha to join hands and support the day-long bandh.
The controversy stems from the distribution of newly published primary school textbooks for Classes I to VIII. Reports indicate that well over 1,600 egregious factual and typographical errors were discovered across dozens of titles printed at a cost running into hundreds of crores.
The errors sparked public ridicule and concern from educationists, Opposition parties, and student bodies. Notable misprints included describing Sir Isaac Newton as the “greatest pilot,” misplacing Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills in Jharkhand, mislabeling an image of the Karnataka Assembly as the Odisha Legislative Assembly, and printing basic Odia alphabet vowels out of order.
“The School and Mass Education Department has displayed total apathy toward our children’s future. Spending hundreds of crores of public funds to supply error-ridden books to young minds requires clear accountability starting from the top,” voiced agitators during ongoing demonstrations.
The announcement of the September 30 bandh marks a major escalation in protests that have been brewing across the state. Student outfits, including the Navnirman Yuva Chhatra Sangathan (NYCS), alongside civil society groups and various political leaders, have been staging hunger strikes and satyagraha demonstrations in Bhubaneswar.
While the state government has initiated steps to distribute corrected textbook supplements, civil rights groups argue that minor fixes are insufficient. By calling for a complete state shutdown on September 30, the Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan aims to force administrative accountability, systemic reforms in educational publishing, and the exit of the School and Mass Education Minister.
